When the invite to the opening of Kong’s, Cardiff landed in the Super Burger Bros inbox we were excited at the prospect of playing some classic arcade games and drinking some craft beers. A couple of days later I found out that the launch party was being catered and that burgers were on the menu, and not just any burgers; there would be Burger Theory burgers.
Suddenly perspective changed and the opening of a craft beer bar that had some retro gaming machines and some food turned into a Super Burgers Bros haven where you could have great burgers, craft beer and video games.
Kong’s is a minimalist basement space on Cardiff’s High Street that has been stripped down to the bone, resembling an unfinished industrial area, yet the details show that this was a planned and well thought out design, executed perfectly.
Back in 1988, I would chuck a number of big old fat 10p coins into Double Dragon, along with my best mate at the time, Jason, after I’d been to the ice skating at my, now demolished, local leisure centre and see how far we could get. One day, we decided that instead of going skating, we’d use our money to see if we could complete it once and for all. 38 coins of mine and a similar number of Jason’s, disappeared before finally seeing the Lee brothers free Marianne from big bad boss man Willy. Good times.
That’s what this place does to you, it reminds you of your childhood, when life was easy(ish), and serves you beer and burgers.
Oh the burgers. Burger Theory burgers. This was a name that had come up in the past whenever I asked colleagues from Bristol where they would recommend, yet I’d never got there; thankfully they came to Cardiff.
Some of my fellow food bloggers (as shown above) had got their paws on some of the generously proportioned taster sized sliders before I got the chance to and the reviews were gushing. You should check out Fuudblog, Kitchen Clonc and The Plate Licked Clean for some more foodblogging masterpieces, once you’ve finished reading every review we’ve ever written….twice….#obvs
My first burger was The Sheriff, a beef patty with bbq sauce, an uber-crunchy onion ring and the usual salad suspects on a sesame topped bun that can only be described as a brioche bread hybrid which had a fraction of the sweetness of a full brioche, but the robustness of a morning roll that withstood the onslaught of the taste flowing juices of the burger. The combination was more than a classic; it was/is a phenomenon that I can’t wait to go back and get the full sized version.
I then got to spend some time in the kitchen with Rory and his team as they churned out tray upon tray of tasters for their guests. Each of those guys back there were excited about the chance to share their burgers with their new fans and their positivity and enthusiasm was clear to see. They loved their huge, standard menu of 16 burgers, including 5 veggie options and they were serving each and every one of them to a standard that made this Super Burger Bro blush with every fresh taster they passed him straight from the grill.
While Lloyd got all patriotic and plumped for the Welsh Rarebit burger (left) with leeks, I had the Christmas special (right), venison burger, which would push the menu up to 17 I guess. The crispy bacon, brie and cranberry sauce kickstarted that December festive feeling inside of me.
Next up, the Down n’ Dirty was a bacon cheeseburger, that melted in my mouth and had me wishing that my metabolism was a million times faster and that I had a bottomless stomach in which to throw every burger on the menu down my neck.
As it was though, I decided to split a Southern Hippie, veggie option and see what the fuss was about. Jonathon of The Plate Licked Clean had been raving about this burger. The general gist of his comment was that it said it was a veggie burger, but it tasted amazing and he’d even order it above a beef burger; high praise indeed. I never expected the Southern-fried Portobello mushroom with grilled halloumi, hot sauce and blue cheese dressing to be as good as that, but it was pretty epic.
I’d like to say a huge thank you to Max at Kong’s and Rory at Burger Theory for their invite and hospitality. I’ll definitely be back again soon to do proper reviews on some of these bad boys.
Super Burger Bros were invited along as guests and the food and drinks were complimentary, however this hasn’t influenced my review in any way.
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